Universal Radiator Valve Cap

Anyone else find that the ends of their fingers get too cold when wearing their fingerless glove? I have been troubled with this for years now and have looked everywhere for a solution. Then I came across these. They come in a pack of 10 (which is ideal as I happen to have 10 fingers), they are round, and my fingers all fit in them. The only nag that I have is that they are only available in white and my gloves are black; maybe I need to buy to white gloves instead. Oh, and they wont work with one of them eyePhone contraptions, but you can just pop one off and underneath it is the perfect tool for tapping those insanely small buttons on the screen :) Win Win!Anyways......As many will have found, over the years, valve caps for radiators either end up cracking, badly discolouring or just start to look naff. I have been looking to replace some of ours for a while now. I normally end up throwing the old ones when I decorate because they just looked old and discoloured against the fresh white.I considered printing replacements as I was finding it difficult to get a replacement that looked like it would fit our specific valves. Then I came across these.The design is simple. A plastic cap with a thick rubber washer inside. The rubber washer has a small hole in the middle so that when you push the valve cap on the top of the valve, it passes through the hole and clamps it tight.As a few have said, the holes were a little too small to allow the valve spindle to pass through. Some have suggested drilling the hole a little bigger. I felt this was a little overkill and also couldn't be bothered. A simple solution is to cut 4 small slits in the rubber, I used a craft knife, from the inner hole outwards. The slits only have to be a 3 or 4 millimetres long and they will form a cross in the centre. Be careful not to cut all the way through; the washer needs to remain whole. This will allow the spindle head to part the rubber, making the hole big enough.I have looked at caps that have a selection of metal insert clips, and these may work fine, but I felt that the valve cap would move too much due to the thin points of contact. These caps though, appear to hold well. Yes you could grab them and wiggle them around slightly, but they grip on to the valve well and I think you would have to put some effort in to actually remove them.All in all, a good cheap fix.

Isn't it silly that manufacturers don't sell spare covers? So many of mine have been lost or broken. After searching for "official" replacements, I decided to get some of these universal ones. They do a great job of making your radiators look neat and tidy again. The way they fit "universally" is by having a kind of thick rubber washer-thingy inside that you force down onto the valve spindle. Some reviewers said they resorted to drilling the washer because they were too tight. I found I had to push down pretty damn hard - but they did go on without drilling. And of course they don't wobble and don't get knocked off.The problem with this is that they grip the spindle tight enough to turn it. And the whole point of a lock-head is to cover the valve and NOT turn it. So they are decorative, but could still let kids fiddle with the radiator balancing. Not a problem in my house, but something to consider maybe for other shoppers. If that is important to you, I would suggest removing the washer, then using plasticine or blu-tack to fit cover over the valve without engaging the spindle. Hope this helps!

As other reviewers have stated the insert that 'fixes' these to the valve are solid plastic rather than rubber. I already had a screwfix version which was rubber and whilst was easy to fit as it required no manual adjustment was over twice the pricer per cap. As i needed ten i tried these knowing i would likely need to make the hole bigger to fit the valve.As expected out of the box the insert hole was too small so i expanded with a 7mm drill bit, holding the insert in a pair of pliers. Once i had the size right it only took a minute to adjust all ten so for me was worth the saving. If you get the hole size right these fir tightly and securely and look much better than what i had before.I'd also recommend putting the insert on first and then putting the cap on.

I was looking to replace the five paint splattered valve caps on the radiators in my flat and thought these ones would do the trick.The caps being replaced didn't turn the valve, they were just there to make it look pretty.....so these plain white ones would do for my colour scheme.The plastic cap part is fine, the main issue was with the rubber washer that sits inside the cap and is meant to make it a universal valve cap........ I'm guessing the washer's inner hole should fit any shape valve top allowing the cap to slip over the top. The problem however is that the rubber washer was rock hard, absolutely no give allowing you to fit the washer over a valve top that is more rectangular than circular.The washer was so hard I thought it was plastic rather than rubber. In the end I had to soak the washers in boiling water for a few minutes and that gave just enough play to get the washer over the valve top, then the caps could go on and force the washer that bit further down so it would sit properly.In the end, all is good, but a slightly softer rubber washer would be ideal.

Very easy to put these on the radiator pipes. I used to replace some yellowing old and some missing caps.Not going to win any DIY awards, but as a simple home improvement job it made the radiators look a bit smarter.

I bought these because my old ones were scruffy and looked tattyThese arrived and 3 were scratched and marked on top making them look scruffy and tattyLuckily I only need 7 but still

Easy to fit capsThey do the job

The caps that came with our rad valves were a loose fit, thin and broke easily. These new ones are a very good tight fit. The opening at the bottom is slightly larger than it needs to be but the rubber washer inside holds it on very firmly to the valve stem. These are over £2 each at a local merchant! Very pleased.